Faith News

(Photo above)

The Year One/Two T children created a Lenten paper chain of actions for which they are sorry or repentant this Lent. They also drew illustrations about how they would be kind and giving to others, which formed a beautiful display in their classroom made with the colour purple; the liturgical colour of Lent.

Term One

Ash Wednesday School and Parish Mass
THIS Wednesday, March 5th - St Brendan’s Church at 9:30 am
Mass leaders: Year One & Two staff and students. All are welcome.
Parish Commitment Mass for First Reconciliation Students (Year Three students and older students who are enrolled to receive The Sacrament of First Reconciliation)
Saturday, March 15th- St Brendan’s Church, 6:00 pm.
First Reconciliation Sacramental Liturgy (Year Three students and older students who are enrolled to receive The Sacrament of First Reconciliation)
Thursday, March 20th- St Brendan’s Church, 1:45 pm.Parents and carers of students enrolled to receive The Sacrament of First Reconciliation are welcome to attend.

Term Two

First Eucharist Sacramental Mass
*Year Four Children and older students who enrol.
Enrolment details to be communicated towards the end of Term One.
Saturday, June 21st,St Brendan’s Church at 6:00 pm.
Confirmation Sacramental Mass
*Year Six Children who enrol.
Enrolment details to be communicated in Term Two
Saturday, August 9th, St Brendan’s Church at 6:00 pm.

Thank You

Thank you to the special visitors who joined us in celebrating the Beginning of the 2025 School Year Mass & Commitment Mass for the First Reconciliation Candidates on Thursday, February 20th. Thanks to Fr Shymon for celebrating Mass with us and HUGE thanks especially to our Year Five and Six staff and students who led the Mass so beautifully with our whole school theme for 2025, ‘Leading With Teamwork and Kindness’. A special shout out to our Foundation students who made us all very proud with their perfect behaviour during their very first school Mass. Well done!

First Reconciliation

Last Wednesday, our nine students preparing to receive the sacrament of First Reconciliation attended the student and parent workshop for The Sacrament of First Reconciliation with their families. Following this, the children and their families also attended the Parish Commitment Mass for First Reconciliation on Saturday evening at St Brendan’s Church. Thank you to all of our families for their attendance at both of these important celebrations of faith. Please keep the following students and their families in your prayers as they prepare to receive this beautiful sacrament of healing and renewal:


Max B	Ella B
Oliver C	Jack D-S
Maverick M	Jessica M
Millie N	Oliver M
Veronica C

Catholic Baptism Congratulations

Congratulations to Oliver M, Charlotte M, Veronica C and her younger brother Charlie on receiving the Sacrament of Catholic Baptism on Saturday at St Brendan’s Parish Mass. Welcome to the Westernport Parish, and to God’s Universal Catholic Church as newly initiated Catholics.

Thank you to the beautiful choir who led the First Reconciliation Commitment Mass hymns with the parish band. Special thanks to their parents and carers for bringing them along, and for many St Brendan's families for joining us in the celebration of Mass too.

Social Justice Action Team (SJAT) News

Thank you to the Year Five and Six students who applied for a position of leadership on the Social Justice Action Team (SJAT). Selecting just six students was quite a challenge, given the high standard of the sixteen impressive applications I received. Badges were presented to the selected 2025 SJAT at the whole school assembly on Monday, March 3rd. I am looking forward to working with the selected for the 2025 SJAT. Congratulations to our 2025 SJAT:

5/6 W Hudson K Year 5 and Zoe W Year 5

5/6 V Mia C Year 5 and Alyssa M Year 6

5/6 E Molly B Year 5 and Charles M Year 5

Supporting the Caritas Project Compassion Lenten Appeal

Ash Wednesday: Lent Begins

This Wednesday, March 5th is Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning of Lent, which ends on Easter Sunday. Lent is a time of fasting, i.e. giving up something considered to be a treat. It is also a time when we are especially reminded of the Catholic Social Teaching Principal Preferential Option for Those in Need, as we are called to ‘alms give’ and Unite Against Poverty through the Caritas Australia Project Compassion Appeal. In the coming weeks, all students will learn about the Catholic Christian tradition of ‘almsgiving’ throughout the Lenten Season, which aligns beautifully with the Caritas Project Compassion Lenten Appeal. As supporters of Caritas, we are also fortunate to access a wide range of Caritas school resources free of charge for school and home use.

Each classroom has a Project Compassion donation box, where small cash donations are encouraged to be given by students throughout Lent. Families are also encouraged to learn more about the work of Caritas and contribute whatever they can electronically to answer the call to care for our global family and walk alongside the most vulnerable. For more information please visit the Caritas webpage here or click on the QR code above. Your generous support this Lenten Season will enable Caritas Australia to provide life-changing support to communities facing poverty, food insecurity, lack of education, and water shortages, while building resilience against future challenges. Together, through faith and action, we can bring hope and opportunity to those most in need. Thank you for standing with us, as we Unite Against Poverty this Lent.

Catholic Baptism

For families considering The Sacrament of Catholic Baptism for their child/ren, please contact the Western Port Parish Centre on (03) 5979 4374. Should you make Baptism arrangements with the Parish, please inform me so that this special milestone for your child can be acknowledged within the school community. Please also forward a copy of your child’s Baptism Certificate to the school so that this can be reflected in the school records.

Families who wish for their children to receive any sacrament or The Rite of Reception through the parish have been requested by Fr Shymon to make timely arrangements, as adequate preparation is required.

This is especially important when families wish to enrol in school sacramental preparation programs, such as First Reconciliation, First Eucharist and Confirmation.

Please consider this advice in preparation for our school sacramental programs for this year.

Christian Initiation for Adults: RCIA

Have you ever considered becoming a Catholic or continuing the Catholic sacramental journey that you commenced as a child or younger adult?

RCIA stands for the ‘Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults’. The Westernport Parish RCIA team is ready to welcome any participants who would like to enquire about becoming a Catholic. The sessions for preparation will be on Thursday evenings from 7:00 pm until 8:30 pm in the Parish Centre. There is no obligation to commit to continuing if the decision is made to not proceed. Adults who wish to begin or continue their faith journey through the reception of the Catholic sacraments are invited to contact the Western Port Parish Centre on (03) 5979 4374.

Western Port Parish News

Please follow this link to the Western Port Parish web page, and to find out more about parish happenings.

Catholic Care

For further information about the services offered by Catholic Care for those in need, please visit: https://www.ccam.org.au/

Access to Australian Catholics Online Magazine

Hard copies of the Australian Catholic Magazine will be distributed to all families whose eldest children are in Years 3-6 this year. Please look out for these throughout the year and have a read over a ‘cuppa’ to discover more about happenings in Catholic schools and parishes.

ALL families have FREE access to the Australian Catholics online resource. To access this fabulous resource, please click here and use the following login details to gain access:

Email: parents@sbsomerville.catholic.edu.au

Password: acparents

Yours in faith & harmony.

Emma Chapple

-Religious Education Leader

-Performing Arts Classroom Specialist Teacher

-Director: Disney’s ‘Frozen Jr.’

echapple@sbsomerville.catholic.edu.au

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